Facing her demons - Double down
by StitchWorkScowl
Summary: After escaping a Cerberus trap on Palaven, Astalia heads to Omega to search for answers to the location of her missing husband. With both Aria and Cerberus to be wary of, how far will she go to get the information she needs? Second in the Facing her demons series.
1. Chapter 1: Queen of hearts

"This place is a mess."

"I think they literally just fought a war here."

"How could you tell?"

The street was bustling with activity, with members of nearly every space faring race in sight going about their business. The Talons, intimidating Mercenaries clad in Red body armour stood watch over the public, keeping the peace. The area looked slightly damaged, except for one building that seemed to be the centre of all activity in the area. Afterlife. It was huge, with wide double doors at the top of a set of steps that dozens of people were queuing on. There was a small cratered area a few meters away from the steps that was cordoned off. Someone in a black hooded cloak weaved through the crowd, reaching one of Elcor doormen.

"Bored. Name?" He said in the monotone voice all Elcor were famous for.

"My name is not on the list. I have information for Aria regarding Cerberus." A female voice said.

"Suspicious. What information?"

"I am sorry, but it is only for her."

"Indifferent. Then I am also sorry. If your name is not on the list, you cannot come in." The figure in the cloak stayed motionless for a moment.

"Please, this is very important." She tried again.

"Annoyed. No. You are not on the list. You cannot come in." The figure tilted her head so the Elcor could see her eyes, and closed them. After a second her eyes opened slowly, now completely jet black.

"Are you sure?" The voice seemed to echo.

"I... Uh..." The Elcor stammered.

"Tell me I can come in. Tell me to go and speak to Aria." She stared the Elcor down as he hesitated, her black eyes unblinking.

"Please..." He said in a strained tone. "Come in." The Elcor grunted. "Go speak to Aria."

"Thank you." She replied, walking past the doorman as he attempted to step to one side. The doors hissed open and the music of the club hit her as she stepped into a huge hallway flooded with patrons. The walls were just huge screens that played a silhouette of a dancer in front a roaring fire.

"You never cease to amaze me." The voice in her ear said. "That would've really helped us out in the docking bay."

"I do not like doing it." She replied, keeping her head low. "Every time I use those abilities it becomes easier. That is not a good thing." The voice stayed silent as she moved through the crowd, emerging onto the main floor. The area in front of her had two levels, the main floor was a bar area, people crowding around the bar in the centre of the room and mingling in small groups dotted about. There were also doors on both sides of the room which appeared to lead down. On the opposite side of the room there was two sets of stairs on either side of a room suspended above the bar. The figure made her way to stairs on the left of the room, which were being blocked by a Turian and a Batarian both wearing the Talon armour. They perked up and tightened their grip on their weapons as she neared them.

"What do you want!?" The Batarian asked aggressively.

"I need to see Aria."

"Nobody goes-" He stopped mid sentence as a muffled voice came through his radio. Both the Batarian and the Turian brought their weapons up and pointed them at her.

"Hands in the air!" The Turian yelled as the Batarian stepped forward, grabbing her by the back of her neck and half walking half shoving her up the stairs. He roughly pushed her through the doors into the room, throwing her down near the centre of the room, she noticed a ornate table and cupboard to her left, and large couch that stretched across the back of the room, with a figure sitting in the middle; her back to the window overlooking the club.

"Check her for weapons." An intimidating female voice said from in front of her. She heard a series of beeps behind her as she was scanned. A hand reached down and took the pistol from her side. "Take the hood off." She looked up to the other Asari sitting on a plush couch that stretched across the end of the room, hugging the wall and corners as she felt someone pull her hood down, revealing her face. Her light blue skin and yellow markings that ran the length of her face were darkened by they flashing lights and atmospheric club, appearing a darker shade. "Astalia Sidare." Aria T'Loak said, with a look of disgust on her face. She was sat leaned back against the couch with her legs crossed and a drink in her hand. Astalia felt her eyes widen in shock. "I had you clocked the minute you walked in here. Interesting show at the door by the way. Now, you have about 10 seconds to tell me why you're here before I throw you out an air lock." Astalia reached into her pocket and started pulling out a data pad.

"I have -" The Batarian next to her pulled his gun up again.

"Hands where we can see them!" He yelled angrily.

"Give me that." Aria commanded, motioning to the datapad in Astalias skyward hand. The Turian guard took it whilst the Batarian kept his gun inches from her face, and handed it and the pistol to her.

"What.." Aria said, tapping on the device. "Do we have here...?" The room stayed silent while she worked her way through the data. "I already know all of this." She said, tossing the pad to one side. "What's your interest in the Cerberus handoff? Did you want their cargo?"

"I was supposed to be their cargo."

"Oh? That's amusing. I can guess why they want you, which makes me want to kill you just that much more. Stopping Cerberus from getting something they want, plus I can't really deal with having one of you around right now."

"I need to know where they are meeting, I'll be out of here before you know it." She said, trying to keep the calm expression in her face.

Aria nodded to her guards, and they hauled Astalia off the floor. "You have 10 minutes to get off my station before we shoot you, and after that you have 5 minutes to get out of my system before we blow you up. Now get out of here."

"Wait!" Astalia exclaimed as she struggled against the guards pulling her.

"5 minutes to get off my station." Aria said, lifting her right foot to settle on her left knee.

"Please, they have my husband!" She pleaded desperately as she neared the door, which split open in front of them.

"Damn it, Shepard." Aria said under her breath. "Stop." The guards turned around, dragging the distressed Asari with them. Aria stood up and waved them away. "I'm going soft." She said, walking over to the nearby table, picking something up then returning to her seat, leaving Astalia stood near the door. "Get over here and sit down. You look like an idiot standing there like that." Astalia walked over cautiously and sat on the other side of the couch, across from her host. "I don't know if I believe you." Aria started as she sat back down and crossed her legs again, leaning back. "Never heard of one of you having an actual relationship, let alone marriage. To be honest, I think Cerberus was only having their meeting here to prove they could still get one over on me, and you interrupting that would be quite entertaining. I could've gone either way about this so I will give you your information. Tomorrow night, I am hosting a party to celebrate having Omega back under my control. They are having their meeting here, before making their way to the docking bay. I already know the specifics of the meeting, whether you want to get to them there or at the cargo bay is of little consequence to me. That being said, you have this one chance to get what you want before you get the hell of my station" Aria finished, handing Astalia an invitation.

"Thank you, and I will." She replied, taking the item and pocketing it.

"I know you will. If I see you again or if you make a scene tomorrow we're going to have a freaking problem. You try any of that Ardat-Yakshi shit and I find any brain dead people in the next few days I will have your head."

"Ground rules, got it."

"Rules? No, I only have one rule." Aria said, smiling. "Don't fuck with Aria." 


	2. Chapter 2: Black or red?

"Would you like anything else?" The Turian bartender asked as he handed Astalia a drink.

"No, thank you." She replied, giving the Turian sly smile. Swishing the luminescent blue liquid in its glass, Astalia moved to turn away from the the bar but stopped and frowned as she realised that the barman was still staring at her.

"Is everything alright?" He said almost immediately with genuine concern, his eyes appearing almost glazed over as he maintained the eye contact.

"Uh... Yes, everything is fine. Thank you again." She moved away a little bit faster now, until the barman had his gaze broken by another patron who was waving to get his attention. "Stop it." She thought to herself as she shook her head. She had felt different since coming back from Palaven and she just realised why. It had been decades since she'd seen combat, and slightly longer since she had used any of the abilities her genetic abnormality gave her. The inborn compulsion to mate had always been there, but she had managed to keep the feeling at the back of her mind. The shock of losing Kurreck mixed with her recent use of biotics had brought the craving back to the forefront of her thoughts. The feeling had almost gone unnoticed until now, as Astalia realised what she was doing to the barman. This ability, which was similar to the one she had used on the Elcor bouncer, was one of the two reasons Ardat-Yakshi were considered so dangerous. Affecting the minds of other beings was a dangerous game, and she had refrained from doing so in fear that it would break her self control, and yet now she had to in order to find Kurreck. She was only going to get worse until she found him.

"Blue? Are you alright?" Thrakk's voice come through her comms, breaking her out of the deep thought.

"I am fine." She replied, taking a sip of her drink, and moving to a nearby chair.

"You're just stood still shaking your head, You don't want people to notice you or your mark might get scared off."

"There is no way he could know I am still alive, or that his team failed, I do not even look the same." Astalia looked into the mirror opposite the her, and checked the make up she had applied to her face to cover up the yellow markings. Her eyes drifted down to the red low cut dress she was wearing, and allowed herself a smile as she thought just how pretty she looked.

"Maybe so, but people don't tell crazy looking women their secret plans."

"You would be surprised." She said, downing her drink and standing up. "I found him."

"Good luck. And be careful."

"I will." She walked to the bar and ordered another drink, making sure she didn't speak to the same barman as before. Blue beverage in hand, she set off in the direction of the humans that had just entered afterlife. One of them was wearing a black tuxedo, who was presumably security, and another in a white tuxedo. The man she recognised from the Cerberus data pad only as operative "Trigon". He had short black hair and the beginnings of a goatee and a rather stern look upon his face. As she neared them the human in the black suit became distracted with some nearby Batarians and she took her chance,  
pretending to slip on the floor Astalia bumped into Trigon and "accidentally" spilled some of her drink on him.

"Goddess, I am so sorry!" She cried apologetically as the two separated, Trigon yelped for a second as he tried in vain to brush the blue drink off his chest before it stained. "Please, let me get you a something to wipe that off with."

"It's fine." He replied agitatedly. "You should watch where you're going."

"I really am sorry, I've had a little too much to drink. Please let me get you something as a way of apology."

"I'm meeting someone, so no." He tried to step past her, but she shifted herself so he couldn't. Astalia couldn't afford to lose her chance. "Please excuse me." He said, forcing a smile.

"Please, let me make it up to you. I could even keep you company while you're waiting for your friends...?" She asked, showing a seductive smile that made his falter.

"Alight, just get me something humans can drink. I'll be over there." He motioned to a nearby table. As she returned to the bar, all Astalia could think about was how out of practice she was at this before she buried the thought.

"There you are." Astalia said as she sat down opposite the man and handed him the drink. She introduced herself as Aleena and he told her his name was Garrett. They talked for a time and she bought them both drink after drink all the while prying him for information. Astalia smiled and laughed but was becoming increasingly frustrated with his lack of disclosure. He shrugged off the questions about his work despite the alcohol she was giving him.

"This might be the booze talking, but I gotta say you're looking pretty hot for an alien." He said suddenly.

"Oh my!" Astalia laughed while resisting the huge urge to punch him in his smug face. He was disgusting, and her patience was worn out. Garrett had bought the last few rounds and the drinks he had picked for them both had significantly more alcohol. Her increasing inebriation mixed with this and the thunderstorm of emotions she was feeling finally cracked her resolve. "Flattery will get you nowhere..." Turning off her comms, she smiled and leant into his ear, whispering: "But an empty room might."

"Excellent!" Garrett laughed as he stood up, swaying slightly. "I have just the place!"

The door nearly flew off its hinges as the two almost fell through it, hands everywhere as they kissed and slammed it behind them. A sharp knock on the door briefly interrupted them.

"For god sa-" Garret started quietly. "I'm fine, Jerry!" He yelled through the door to his bodyguard on the other side. "Go get a drink, I'll be down in an hour or something!" He turned around to see Astalia sitting on the bed, leant back with her right knee over her left, motioning him to come over. He rushed over and they collapsed onto the mattress as they resumed kissing furiously. His hand flew to the zip on the back of her dress, and started to pull it down until she stopped him. "What gives?" He asked, confused.

"I have something better..." Astalia said seductively. "Do you want it?". Garrett nodded. "Tell me you want it." Astalia spoke in a calm and hushed tone, her eyes now black as the night sky.

"I want it." He replied almost robotically. He was eye level with her, his face inches away from hers.

"You are going to tell me everything I want to know, right?"

"Right."

"Good." She whispered, moving closer as if to kiss him. "Embrace eternity." For a moment, they were of one mind. She knew everything he did, and he knew everything she did. They felt confusion, then shock as they realised too late who she was. Then they felt curiosity as they remembered Garrett's early days in Cerberus, his induction to the group, his rise through the ranks, a conversation that they had earlier in the week. A transmission from his boss. They were sat in a chair, drinking whiskey and listening intently.

"... Because of the current state of Palaven, we'll have no idea whether or not this Turian delivers until he gets to Omega. He's not going to risk a transmission so your orders are to stay at this party until it ends. The attachment we're sending you now has co-ordinates and access codes should he come through with the package."

"Right." They answered. "So just wait at a party? That's it?"

"That's it. Don't mess this up, this comes straight from the Illusive Man." The screen went blank, then lit up as it received a message. They took a sip of the whiskey, then leant forward, pressing the message on the display. It opened up to display subheadings labelling - "Astalia Sidare", "Gothis Tierus." And "Sanctuary." They went through the headings, the first showed an image of Astalia, labelled "Extremely dangerous", with instructions to detain and if necessary sedate until arrival at destination. The second showed Gothis, once the exchange was over with he was to be executed to tie up loose ends. Sanctuary was a Cerberus lab site disguised as a safe haven, the dossier didn't go into detail but they gathered it wasn't a good place to be. Astalia blinked, nausea and shame pulling her out of the trance. These feelings were quickly over shadowed by a huge surge of euphoria and energy as Garretts eyes rolled back into his head and he started twitching. 


	3. Chapter 3: Broken Terms

The loud and insistent knocking wrenched Astalia back to consciousness and she got to her unsteady feet. She felt amazing. Looking in a nearby mirror, she let out a giggle as she noticed some of her makeup had smudged, revealing the yellow markings on her face. Giddiness turned to nausea and horror as her eyes drifted to the body laying on the bed behind her. She retched and ran to the bathroom, throwing up into the toilet. Gathering herself, she stepped back into the room, then the door smashed open. Garretts bodyguard stood in the doorway, he took one look at Astalia, another look at Garrett lying on the edge of bed, and drew his pistol. Astalia touched her cheek realising he could see the markings. As he pulled his pistol up, Astalia pushed herself back into the bathroom using her biotics. Or at least she meant to. Rather than the blue energy, purple wisps enveloped her for a split second, and then she was gone. Astalia blinked as she fell back, disoriented and confused. Looking around, she was in another room similarly furnished to the one she was just in. She stood up as the last of the wisps dissipated, crept to the door in front of her and opened it, leaning out. It was the same hallway to the apartment complex that she'd walked through last night with Garrett. Despite feeling like she was literally the happiest person alive, the thought of Garrett made her feel slightly Ill again. The next door down was open, with broken shards of the wooden frame strewn across the floor.

"Goddess." Astalia said out loud. Did she just teleport? Was it even possible? Looking around she realised there was no other answer. This was another ability that was rarely heard of, and the sudden discovery brought back the giddiness. What other abilities could she gain? She immediately buried the thought, regaining her self control. What would Kurreck say? What would Thrakk say? She let out a small gasp as she remembered the Krogan. "Thrakk?" She said, turning her comms back on. "Thrakk are you there?"

"Of course I'm here." His gruff voice crackled through. "Where else would I be right now?"

"I have done something terrible." She whispered as she moved out into the corridor, heading towards the stairs. Static came through the channel as the Krogan chose his words.

"We'll talk about it when you get back, did you get the intel?" He asked.

"Not yet. I need to find his ship." She stopped halfway down the stairs to take off her heeled shoes, then carried on. "He has codes and coordinates on his computers I need."

"Alright, I'll bring your gear then. Where are you?" Astalia didn't answer as she emerged into the lobby, accidentally making eye contact with a disgruntled looking Batarian managing the check-ins.

"I've seen that walk before!" He laughed as the disheveled Asari hurried past.

"Sending you my position now, but we will meet here." She continued as the door closed behind her, putting a marker in an alleyway on the floor beneath them.

"Alright." Thrakk started, but a door slam behind Astalia drew her attention, blocking out what her friend said. She threw up her kinetic barriers just in time to deflect the gunshot into wall to her right and turned to face her attacker. "What was that!?" Thrakk asked worriedly.

"Nothing, just go I'll meet you there!" Astalia grunted as she tried to use her biotics to throw the bodyguard to one side. His shield took the impact and became visible along a wave around him for a second. He staggered but stayed on his feet, raising the assault rifle he'd picked up since she last saw him. "You have got to be kidding me." She sighed, bolting down the near empty street, feeling naked without her armour in this situation as another shot ricocheted off her barriers, nearly knocking her down. She passed a market stall and turned right into an open block. It was dotted with more stalls and opened out onto a huge balcony that overlooked a skyway which was home to hundreds of shuttles. Astalia sprinted towards the balcony as a flurry of shots skittered past her now she was out of the way of the crowds. "Goddess please let this work!" She breathed as she sped towards the metal barrier, eyes locked on a skycar on her right the was about to fly past. Her kinetic barrier shattered from a final impact as she reached the edge and jumped. She pushed herself forward like in the hotel room and felt the same rush as the purple wisps of energy enveloped her in the space of a fraction of a second, teleporting her the nine meters to the shuttle. The impact jarred her as she landed on the vehicle, sending her rolling across it. The energy wisps fluttered away as she struggled to regain her balance and get a grip on the skycar before she could slide off the edge. Her right hand found a groove as she went over and she gripped it for dear life, stopping her from falling off it as she ended up hanging. Letting out a sigh of relief, she turned and realised she was inches away from the Human pilot, who was staring at her through the glass on his side of the door. Astalia slowly raised her free hand and gave him a little wave.

Dave was surprisingly nice about the whole incident, and even agreed to drop Astalia off at the floor where she was supposed to meet Thrakk. She didn't go in to much details as to why she had dropped in on his skycar and he didn't ask. She waved him off and was soon was wearing her light armour and sitting alongside Thrakk in the shuttle he had rented to get them about Omega. They were headed down to a nearby docking bay to find Garretts ship, hopefully before his bodyguard took off with it.

"I thought you said you had this under control?" Thrakk asked after Astalia finished explaining what had happened over the last night.

"I... I thought I did..." She stuttered. "I should not have drank but I was nervous and then he was buying them. I have no excuse but I need you to know I regret it." Silence filled the compartment and they heard nothing but the dull hum of the engines as Thrakk chose his words.

"Ah well. I wanted to kill him anyway." His laughter dispersing the tension. "But you know when Aria finds out she's coming straight for us, right? We need to get out of here quick."

"It is probably worse than that, I would guess she knows already." She said whilst knocking a heat sink out of her pistol. The hum from the engine became a quiet rumble as the shuttle docked.

"Then we'd better get a move on!" Thrakk replied, putting his helmet on. His shield became visible for a brief moment in a cylinder around him as it activated. Astalia nodded, putting on her own helmet and pulling her hood up over it. She blinked as the display synced with her weapons and kinetic barriers, giving her her ammo count and shield strength estimate. The various yellow lights on her chest, back and arms flickered to life as her light armour powered up. Astalia enjoyed the freedom of movement that it gave her, less like the armour she wore on palaven which consisted of an under layer and plates, and more like a hardened combat skin. It was mainly black, with her signature yellow patterns on her chest, shoulders and forearms. Disembarking the vehicle, they both kept their weapons holstered as they made their way though the docking bay. They passed through without gathering any attention, it wasn't surprising considering the amount of mercenaries that frequented Omega as they could see at least five Blood pack members dotted around the area. Astalia was retracing the steps she remembered Garrett taking leading out into larger room in which several ships were sat.

"I think that is it!" Astalia exclaimed, pointing to an unmarked ship on the other end of the docking bay.

"You su-" Thrakk started but was interrupted by gunfire which forced them to take cover behind some nearby crates. "Yeah I think you're right!" He yelled over the noise. Peering around the boxes, Astalia could see a man standing in the entryway of the small ship with a rifle, and the bodyguard she had fled from before making his way to the ship from another entrance across the room. She pulled her head back into safety as more rounds were launched her way.

"We have to get over there now!" She shouted to Thrakk. The Krogan leant out of cover to fire, catching the fleeing bodyguard in the back who promptly fell to the ground. The man who was waiting disappeared from view as the hatch to ship closed and the engines stuttered to life. Thrakk let out a howl and jumped out of cover, firing round after round at the ship. The shots bounced harmlessly off the shields, not even causing a shake. "I can stop them!" Astalia yelled over the engine, holstering her pistol and breaking out into a sprint towards to ship. It started to lift off the ground as she jumped and pushed herself forward. The surroundings changed around Astalia with a jarring quickness as she teleported inside the cockpit, breaking the pilots chair as she slammed into the Cerberus agent sending them both to the floor. The ship began to spin out, throwing the two further off balance as they struggled against each other. Astalia managed to get to her feet and was immediately thrown backwards into another console as the ship bounced off a wall and careered in the opposite direction. She saw the Cerberus agent trying to regain his footing and used her biotics to throw him back down. Turning around, she recognised the computer she was leaning on as Garretts, and logged in using the passwords she had stolen from his memory. Holding a rail with her left hand, she downloaded the attachment files into the omni-tool on her right, leaning to keep her balance as the ship spun again. She saw the Cerberus agent get to his feet out of the corner of her eye, making her look back towards the front of the ship. The Agent raised his sidearm to fire, but the Asari was gone. He whipped around to face the cockpit in hopes of regaining control of the ship, but all he saw was a fast approaching wall.


End file.
